The bonuses offered by banks that are worth having

Banks are wooing new savers with huge bonuses while cutting rates paid to loyal savers in other accounts.

Savers can now earn an extra 2 percentage points interest when they open an account - and the length of time they earn the bonus has also increased. Banks are willing to pay them for 12 months, rather than just six to bring in new money.

Money Mail has always ignored short-term bonuses, as they mean you have to switch accounts every three or six months. But with the credit crunch throwing out huge longterm bonuses, some, but not all, are worth grabbing while you can.

These include NatWest's Cash Isa, available through its branches, or over the telephone or internet. This account has also been a decent buy in the High Street. Now it is paying a 2 percentage point bonus for a year to those opening an account.

This brings the rate up to 6.67 per cent for the first year on balances up to £9,000, rising in stages to 7.32 per cent tax-free on balances off £27,000 or more, well above other rates on offer.

At this level the bonus is worth £540 extra tax-free interest a year.

RBS has a similar deal. You can transfer your existing cash Isa money into the accounts from another provider.

If your cash Isa is already with NatWest or RBS and you do not top it up with a transfer from elsewhere you don't qualify.

The 12-month bonus period does not start until your money turns up in your cash Isa from your old provider.

NatWest's instant-access e-Savings internet account is not such a good deal, even though it comes with an even bigger bonus for one year.

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The extra 2.09 point bonus brings the rate to 5.2 per cent after tax (6.5 per cent before tax) - putting it among the leaders.

If you are tempted by the rate, then get ready to switch once the bonus runs out because the underlying rate of 3.53 per cent (4.41 per cent) is an unattractive deal for internet-based accounts.

Egg has just added a 1.8 point before-tax bonus for 12 months on its internet-based accounts, bringing the rate up to 5.24 per cent (6.55 per cent) for the first year you are in the account.

Bonus: Banks such as RBS and Natwest are wooing customers with bonuses

The rate drops to 3.8 per cent (4.75 per cent) once the bonus runs out. But the bonus is variable, so the bank can change the size of it at any time.

Banks use variable rate bonuses to do some fancy footwork which keeps their headline rate as high as possible. It can cut the underlying rate and increase the bonus whenever it wants.

Once your bonus expires, it hopes you won't notice that you are no longer earning the headline rate.

Savers with ING Direct should check their rate. It has used bonuses to keep its headline rate for new savers at 4.8 per cent (6 per cent).

However, the underlying rate for those who have been in the account for more than a year is now just 3.4 per cent (4.25 per cent) after it cut the rate by 0.5 points just two days after last week's drop in base rate.

To make up the difference it has increased the bonus for new savers to 1.67 percentage points, paid monthly, which works out at 1.75 points a year.

Those who took out the account earlier this year may be earning a bonus of as little as 0.91 percentage points extra, bringing the actual rate to 4.13 per cent (5.16 per cent).

And under the Banking Code, they do not have to tell you if they do this.

• If you have a FirstSave Easy Access internet account, then move your money. The bank has just cut the rate it pays on the account by 1.25 percentage points and now pays 3.8 per cent (4.75 per cent).